One of the worst diseases currently plaguing man has to be cancer, the apparent cure for which is possibly worse than the disease itself. Cancer comes in all shapes and sizes. The smallest mole on your skin can be cancerous and so can the visible lump anywhere else on your body.
Cancer can be hereditary or can be caused because of poor lifestyle choices like smoking, not working out and eating badly.
Though most people whose cancer is detected early, survive, some are not so lucky. Anyone who has lost someone to this fatal illness knows how devouring it can be.
As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure and there are some changes you can make, especially in your diet, to decrease your chance of succumbing to the horrible cancer.
The concept of a glass of wine a day is becoming more and more popular. Doctors are recommending this because of the resveratrol present in grape skin. This helps regulate the circulatory system and works against the cancer cells in the body. Alcohol, though, has been known to cause cancer of the stomach and liver so yes, a glass of wine means ONE glass! You can pair your glass of wine with pasta containing lots of tomato sauce. The lycopene in tomatoes is anti-carcinogenic.
If you are trying to cut down on carbs, the tomatoes in a salad containing cruciferous vegetables is another good option. Cruciferous vegetables are from the cabbage family. Bok choy, broccoli, cabbage and kale are a few leafy greens you can enjoy.
Focusing on plant-based foods is a good idea, especially when eaten as whole as possible. Overcooking leafy vegetables takes away the nutrition from them. Foods as close to the original as possible are the key to a healthy, cancer-free lifestyle.
Meats are full of fat and are extremely bad for cancer patients as well as people who have a family history of cancer. Research has shown that vegetarians have a 50 per cent lower chance of getting cancer than meat eaters.
This does not necessarily mean that you have to become a complete vegetarian. If you could divide your plate into three parts, two thirds of it should contain fruit, vegetables, nuts and fibre and one third can be non-vegetarian. Meats are a rich source of protein but are lacking in fibre and other cancer killing nutrients. Also, they are a storehouse of saturated fats. These saturated fats are also found in whole milk dairy products and eggs. These are the bad fats that are also called trans fats or hydrogenated fats. As the name suggests, hydrogen is added to the liquid vegetable oil to solidify it and keep it from spoiling.
But there are some good fats that can be used as substitutes for saturated fats. Omega-3 fatty acids found in tuna and salmon is one. Olive oil, canola oil, nuts and avocados are a good source of healthy unsaturated fat.
Introducing fibre in your diet is a good idea for preventing cancer. This fibre or roughage is important because our body cannot digest it so it scrubs the digestive system clean on the way out thus taking with it cancer causing compounds.
A good way of increasing fibre intake is by eating brown rice, whole wheat bread and eating fruit with the skin on. You can just google ‘Fibre rich foods’ and get an array of foods you can eat.
A very important stage in cancer prevention is boosting your immune system. Our body is equipped to fight any foreign bodies, which includes cancer cells. The stronger the immune system, the better it will fight. Foods containing antioxidants give a huge boost to the immune system. Some foods containing antioxidants are green tea, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, turmeric, fruit rich in Vitamin C.
How you prepare your food is also very important. Charred and burnt food cooked at a high temperature is carcinogenic and so is reusing oil for frying. Food that looks and smells mouldy should be thrown away and microwaving food in plastic containers should be avoided.
There is no vaccination against cancer but following these eating habits may be the prevention that you need against this killer.
